Mourinho keen to stay at Chelsea
LONDON: Jose Mourinho said he believed he would see out his contract at Chelsea after his side secured their place in the FA Cup fifth round with three first-half goals in a 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest.
Speculation has been rife that Mourinho is seeing out the last months of his three-year tenure after a series of off-field problems threatened to undermine his attempt to land a third straight Premiership title.
The Portuguese had been upset that the west London club were not active enough in the January transfer window market following injuries to John Terry, Joe Cole, Arjen Robben and Ricardo Carvalho.
A measure of Chelsea billionaore owner Roman Abramovich's disapproval seems to be that the Russian has not been present at recent Stamford Bridge matches.
However, after this emphatic victory, Mourinho insisted: "The owner is the owner and he does what he wants to do. He has his life and it does not matter to me that he is not at the games.
"He has a busy professional life and has the freedom to live his life as he lives. He does not have to explain his movements to me or the media.
"When the boss is around he is always welcome to our space in the dressing room and at the training ground.
"He is happy that the team is playing much better and when he is back he is back. I cannot tell you one hundred percent whether I will be here next season, because life is not like that, but I think I will be here."
Mourinho's side, who trail Premiership leaders Manchester United by six points and are still in contention for four trophies this season, progressed to the League Cup final in midweek with a comfortable win over Wycombe Wanderers.
"We have to play these matches in a serious and professional way. If you don't do it you give hope to your opponents and today we did our job well," said Mourinho.
"In the first half the game was over and that is what we needed with games coming up against Blackburn and Charlton."
Forest came closest to scoring when striker Junior Agogo beat Petr Cech with a shot which went across the face of goal but James Perch failed to connect at the far post.
AFP
(China Daily 01/30/2007 page23)
